Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 3 children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 17 April 2023.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/06/2025 Full Good 17/06/2024 Full Good 11/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 3

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Summary of findings

Children experience nurturing relationships from skilled staff who promote routines and positive outcomes. This has supported children to make visible progress since moving into their home. Children do not always benefit from day-to-day care that is informed by specialist services involved in their lives. This is a missed opportunity to support the children to make further progress.

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Summary of findings

Staff have a good understanding of children's needs. Children are supported to develop strategies to manage big emotions. Staff do not always accurately record events when children need to be safely held.

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Summary of findings

The children and team benefit from strong leadership and management. Leaders are confident in advocating for children and challenging professionals when they feel that children require support in line with their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress since they moved into their home. They are responding well to routine, engaging with new activities and have made progress with their social and emotional development. As a result, children are developmentally able to confidently engage in new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate strongly for children's educational outcomes. One child has not been in a formal educational setting for some time. The staff have challenged other agencies to ensure that the child has access to an education plan that meets the child's individual needs. Children also benefit from staff implementing creative strategies to support their educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress relating to their social and emotional wellbeing. Staff support the children with individual strategies and there has been a visible improvement in children being able to manage big emotions. However, staff do not always ensure that children are receiving all the individual external services they need, and they do not always gain feedback from specialist services to inform the children's day-to-day care. The important adults involved in children's lives, such as their family, social worker and independent reviewing officer, are very positive about the care children are receiving. One professional said, 'I could not be more thankful for the way they are looking after the children.' Children benefit from good partnerships between key adults in their lives.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have a good understanding of children's needs and how to keep them safe. Children's safety plans are an up-to-date picture of their needs and the strategies that support children to keep them safe. Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 4 Staff support children to learn new strategies to manage big emotions. This has resulted in a reduction of incidents where children are struggling. The staff have been creative with utilising a range of visual strategies to support children to reflect following an incident. This has supported children to develop more emotional intelligence and express their views.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children are physically held, the full events regarding the incident are not always clearly recorded. This reduces the opportunities to reflect on strategies and approaches for the future and ensure that records are factual and in line with safeguarding practice. This also reduces opportunities for children to understand their lived experiences.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children receive their medication in line with their prescription. However, records do not always indicate when children have said that they do not want their medication. This practice is not always identified during audits. Although children have not been exposed to any harm, this practice could result in medication errors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for the children and has embedded this culture within the staff team. She confidently challenges other professionals when there are concerns that plans are not in the children's best interests. This has resulted in positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff feel well supported by their management team. They receive regular support through induction, supervision sessions, training and team meetings. The management team has focused on building a team of staff who have the skills and experience to meet the individual needs of children, which has supported children's progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been one complaint during this inspection period. The management team completed an investigation. There was no feedback provided to the child about the complaint outcome. The lack of feedback could result in a child feeling that they have not been listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and leaders respond promptly to safeguarding concerns and follow safeguarding procedures. There is a focus on evaluation of practice to ensure that there is learning and development opportunities for the staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 21 October 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 6 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b) (i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that records of restraint contain the information that is required by legislation.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should include a strategy for a particular type of care, treatment or intervention. The adults caring for children will need to understand the purpose of any such care and the way in which the past experiences of abuse or neglect may manifest in the day-to-day life of the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 16, paragraph 3.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records are kept of the administration of all medication, which include occasions when prescribed medication is refused. These are fundamentally the same sorts of arrangements as a good parent would make but are subject to additional safeguards. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 35, paragraph 7.15) Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St. Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2719793 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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